Intermittently-operated flush-tank valve.



c. T. MILLER. INTEBMITTENTLY OPERATED FLUSH TANK VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 18.. 19H.

1,251,803. Patented Jan. 1, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

@lhuemboz CHHRLES T- MILLER,

affoznu;

l c. T. MILLER. INTERM TTENTLY OPERATED FLUSH TANK VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I8. 1917.

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, CHARLES r. MILLER, or MAQ N. sarcasm. 1

INTEBMITTENTLY-OPERATED FLUSH-TAIIK- VALVE.

pecificatlon of Letters Patent. t t J n, 1,1913,

Application filed April 18, 1917. Serial No. 163,065.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES T. MILLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Macon, in the county of Bibb and State'of Georgia, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Intermittently-OperatedFlush-Tank Valves, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to'flush tanks such as are used for flushingclosets, etc., and particularly to the flush valves thereof.

The general object of my invention is to provide a flush valve of suchconstruction that it will operate automatically at predeterminedintervals and in this connection provide a flush tank which will operateeach time that the water rises in the tank to a predetermined height.

A further ob ect is to provide a construction of this character in whichthe valve is opened by the upward movement of a float, due to itsbuoyancy, and in which the valve is further opened by the successivedownward movement of the float due to the discharge of water from thetank, the valve being closed when the float has reached its lowermostposition due to the discharge of a predetermined amount of water.

A further object is to provide means for closing the upper end of theoverflow pipe at the time the Water is being allowed to flow out of thetank so as to prevent the gurgling noise usually incident to opening theoutlet valve tank.

Still another object'is to provide a mechanism which will actautomatically at predetermined intervals to operate the flush valve, theactuation of the flush valve being accomplished when the water in thetank rises to a predetermined height.

Still another object is to provide a construction in which the overflowpipe constitutes what may be termed the stem of the flush valve and toprovide means actuated upon a predetermined rise of water Within thetank for vertically raising the overflow pipe to permit the contents ofthe tank to run out and in this connection to provide means for closingthe upper end of the over.- flow pipe whereby to prevent the inrush ofair due to the action or escape of water from the tank;

. Still another object in to close the overflow pipewhile the water ispassing out ofthetank and thus improve the siphoning action of thecloset.

Still another object is to. provide an im-. proved form of valve used inconnection with the movable overflow pipe, which will not be subject todeterioration through the chemical action of the water'on the materialof the valve.

A further object is to provide in a flush tank, an overflow pipe whichcarries the valve and which lifts to cause the opening of the valve andto provide float operated means normally holding the overflow pipe inits closed position and'urging it to this position and against the valveseat, but whicheither automatically or manually will raise the overflowpipe a predetermined dis tance and then as the water in the tank falls,will tend to raise the overflow pipe and hold it lifted while the waterispassing ofl','and' then when the water has entirely passed out of thetank, will permit the overflow pipe to fall to again close theoutlet'opening.

Other objects will appear infthe course of the followingdescription.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein z?Figure 1 is a sectional'view of'a flush tank having a valve constructedin accordance with'my invention, the overflow pipe being partly insection and the float being in section V Fig. 2 is a fragmentary.elevation showing" the position of the latchwhen the float rises, Fig. 3is a sectional view ofthe tank showing the valve and valve mechanism inelevation, the parts being in the position taken when the valve is fullyopened;

Fig; 4c is a like view to Fig. 2, but showing the valve actuating partsat the moment when the valve is about to close;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the overflowpipe and thelatch mechanisms; r

Fig. 6 is a view through the'lower portion of the over-{ flow-pipeand'outlet nipple when the valve "is closed.

In the accompanying drawings, A '.tlesig-.' nates the flush tank, whichmaybe of any: suitable construction and: is provided with the usualwater inlet pipe cont-rolled by. a

float ande-is. inianyi: suitable manfragmentary vertical sectional nor.It is illustrated as such a tank as is ordinarily attached to the backof the closet, though it may be used for an overhead flush tank. Theoutlet nipple 62 is preferably formed with an annulus 63 at its upperend, which is held from the outlet nipple by means of radially disposedspider arms 64. This annulus 63 is perforated at a plurality of pointsand extending from the outlet nipple is a bracket 65, to which avertical rod 66 is connected. The overflow pipe 67 is provided adjacentits lower end with a shoulder 68 and is screw-threaded for a collar 69.A diaphragm 70, which is preferably made of buckskin, or relatively thinleather, but may be made of any suitable material, closely surrounds thelower end of the overflow pipe 67 and is held in close contact with theshoulder 68, by means of the collar 69. The outer end of this diaphragmfits the annulus 68 and is held in tight engagement therewith by anannulus 71, through which screws 72 pass into the annulus 63. Thediaphragm 70, when the overflow pipe 67 is lowered, constitutes a valvecutting off the passage of water to the out-flow pipe and thisdiaphragm, when the overflow pipe 67 is lowered, engages with an annularshoulder or valve seat 73 formed on the nipple.

The lower end of the overflow pipe 67 car-' 'ries a spider 74 from whichextends downward a plunger 75 operating within a cylinder 7 6constituting a dash pot, this cylinder being attached to the nipple inany suitable manner. Preferably the plunger is hollow and formed at itsupper-end with an outer i will not opening and the lower end of theplunger 76 is slotted. It will be seen that this plunger constitutes aguide for the lower end of the overflow pipe, so that the overflow pipeget out of proper alinement with its seat.

The rod 66 at its upper end extends over the upper end of the overflowpipe and is provided with an eye 77, and coacti'ng with the upper end ofthe overflow pipe is a cap 78, having a stem 79 which passes through theeye 77-and is provided with a stop 80. The cap is also provided with aguide 81, which will center the cap with relation to the overflow pipe.It will beobvious that when the overflow pipe is raised, it will contactwith the cap 78 and that then as the overflow pipe rises still farther,the stem 79 will slide upward through the eye 77 so that the overflowpipe remains closed upon an upward movement, but that when the overflowpipeis lowered and has almost reached its seat, the cap 78 will be heldfrom any further downward movement by the contact ;i of the stop 80 withthe eye 77 and the upper end of the overflow pipe will be opened, (seeFig. 1). 1

'- Mounted upon; the. rod..66, in. any.:suit-.

able manner, is ayoke 82, on which is pivotally mounted a pintle 83,this pintle carrying two arms 81 which extend toward the verflow pipeand are angularly bent at their adjacent extremities and then formed wth eyes 85. Mounted uponthe overflow pipe 67 is a clamp 86 havinglaterally pro ecting pins, ,trunnions, or screws 87, which engageloosely in the eyes 85. It will hence be seen that when the'arms 84 areshifted upward, the overflow pipe will be raised.

Swingingly mounted in eyes 88, formed upon the arms 81, 1s a latch. TlllS latch has downwardly extending angular arms 89 and a cross bar 90,upon which is mounted a roller 91. This cross bar 90 is disposed towardthe standard 66. This latch is provided with a weight 92, which urgesthe latch toward the standard 66. The latch may, however, swing awayfrom the standard 66 and toward: the overflow pipe. Mounted upon abracketv 93 is a float lever 94, preferably made intwo adjustablesections, as will be later described, one end of this lever carrying afloat 95 and the inner end having a beveled under face 96 adapted toengage the roller 91, in order to hold the valve to its seat, as will belater de-' scribed. Preferably the lever 91 is formed in two sections,which are angularly adjustable with relation to each other, by reason ofbeing mounted upon a common clamping screw 97, so that the angle of theouter portion of the lever with relation to the inner portion thereofmay be adjusted. I

Normally the parts are in the position illustrated in Fig. 1 with thebeveled face 96 of the lever 91 resting upon the roller. 91 and urgingthe swinging latch downward and thus urging the arms 84: downward andthe overflow pipe 67 downward, so as to close the discharge opening.Under these circumstances, of course, the cap 78 is sus-' overflow pipe.Now when the water which is constantly flowing into the tank 10 hasrisen to a predetermined height, the upward pressure upon the float 95,due to the buoyancy of the float, increases to such a degree that thebeveled face 96 of the lever 94 forces the roller 91 laterally (see Fig.ll, thus releasing the engagement of the latch with the lever 9- 1.Immediately upon this release, the float 95 rises quickly through thewater and the end of the lever swings down below the latch-which thenswings in place with the roller over the upper end of the latch, asillustrated in Fig. 8. The upward movementof the lever 9st causes therod 98 to move upward and engage with the collar 99 mounted upon theoverflow pipe. Thus the overflow pipe will be raised by the uptank."The. float- 95; will nowcommence to fall and the lever 94 move downward.The

latch, however, has swung over the top of the nose of the lever' 9e sothat the down ward movement of the float tends to lift the overflowpipe. As the overflow pipe rises it engages the cap 78 and the upper endof the overflow pipe is thus closed from the time the overflow pipebegins to rise until it has been nearly fully lowered. Vhen the float 95has fallen to its lowest point, the nose of the lever 94: escapes fromthe latch, the overflow pipe is released and drops quickly closing theoutflow pipe and the latch swings in beneath the beveled face 96 of thelever 9 L and theparts in their original position. It is, of course,obvious that the latch 89' might be operated by means of a manuallyoperable trip mechanism, described in my copending application and thatthe construc tion illustrated in my co-pending application, as far asthe lifting mechanism and latch mechanism go might be equally wellapplied to the lifting of the overflow pipe.

The principle of this invention is to a certain extent the same as theprinciple em bodied in" the form of valve illustrated in my co-pendingapplication for patent filed coincidently with this, Serial No. 1630M,but while in this case the operation is automatic, in my co-pending casethe operation is controlled by a manually operable latch. It is obvious,however, that in this present constructionthe latch might be operatedmanually and the same result he obtained as far as the flushing of theclosetis concerned. It will also be obvious that many modificationsmight be made in the present construction, without in any way departingfrom the spirit of the invention. 7

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a'flush tank, adischarge opening having a seat, a valve engaging said seat, a normallysubmerged float, means operatively connected to the valve and normallyhindering the upward movement of the submerged float until the upwardpressure on the float.

has increased beyond a predetermined degree, said means being thenshiftable out of opera.-

tive engagement with the float to permit the float tomove upward underits own buoyancy, said means then shifting automatically again mtooperative engagement with the float and when the float descends actingto raise the valve until the float has descended 2,111 aiflu sh tank.hafing' a discharge opening formed with aseat, a vertically movableoverflow pipe, thelower end of which C GnStItUteS' a wave theoutoverflowpipe to raise it as the float moves upward, and hold it raised upon itssuccessive downward movement due to the d1scharge of water from thetank, the latchbeing shiftable out of operative engagement with thelever to thereby permit the float to actuate the lever and being againshiltable into the path of movement of the lever when;

the float is dropped to its lowest position.

3. A flush tank having a discharge opening and a seat surrounding theopening, a vertically movable overflow pipe, the lower end of whichconstitutes a valve normally closing the discharge opening, a leverpivoted intermediate its ends and having afloat at its outer end andoperatively connected to the overflow pipe to cause the liftingof theoverflow pipe when the lever moves upward due to the buoyancy of thefloat, a latch op eratively connected to the overflow pipe normallydisposed beneath the adjacent end of the lever and normally preventingthe upward movement of thefloat due to its buoyancy whereby said leverurges the latch downward and urges the overflow pipe to its seat, saidlatch being shiftableout of the path of movement of the lever to permitthe float to rise under its own buoyancy and then shifting automaticallyinto position above the adjacent end of the lever whereby when the floatfalls, the lever will tend to raise the overflow pipe, said leverescaping from its engagement with the latch when the float has fallen toits lowest position to thereby permit the overflow pipe to drop' to itsclosed position.

4. A flush tank having a discharge opening and a seat, a verticallymovable overflow pipe, the lower end of which constitutes a valvenormally engaging the seat, a'lever the lever, but being shifted out ofposition beneath the end of the lever when theflotative force on thefloat increases beyond a predetermined amount, operative 'connectionsbetween the lever and th'e'overflow pipe caus ing the lifting of theoverflow pipe upon upward movement'of the float andthe outer end of thelever, said latch swinging into position above the adjacent endof thelever whereby upon 'a downward movement of the/"float, the inner endofthe lever will the latch and lift it and theoverflow PlPP/ythe lever"eise'ng' e s am" '-the latch when the float has fallen to its lowestposition to therebyv permit the overflow pipe to drop to its seat.

5. A flush tank having a discharge opening surrounded by a seat, avertically movable overflow pipe, the lower end of which coacts withsaid seat, a supporting member extending parallel to the overflow pipe,a lever pivotally mounted upon the supporting member intermediate itsends, the outer end of the lever carrying a float, arms pivotallymounted at one end upon the supporting member, the other ends of saidarms being connected to the overflow pipe, a latch swingingly mountedupon the arms and urged to apredetermined position beneath the inner endof the lever, said inner end of the lever being beveled on its underface to cause the lateral shifting of the latch by said beveled facewhen the flotative force on the float overcomes the resistance of saidlatch, said lever being operatively connected to the overflow pipe tocause the lifting of the overflow pipe as the float moves upward upon arelease of said latch, said latch then swinging into position over theinner end of the lever whereby upon a downward movement of the float,the inner end of the lever will engage beneath the latch and raise itand the overflow pipe, the lever disengaging from the latch when thefloat has fallen to its lowermost position to thereby permit the descentof the overflow pipe to its seat.

6..In a flush tank havinga discharge opening, a vertically movableoverflow pipe, the lower end of which constitutes the valve normallyclosing said opening, a support extending upward adjacent the overflowpipe,

arms pivotally mounted upon the support embracing the overflow pipe andpivotally connected thereto, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends uponsaid support, the outer end of the lever having a float, the inner endof the lever having a beveled under face, a rod pivotally connected tothe lever outward of its pivotal point, extending inward and upwardtoward the overflow pipe and then extending directly upward and beingformed with a' collar, a lug on the overflow pipe having an eye throughwhich the upwardly extending portion of said rod passes, the collarbeing below the eye, and a latch swingingly mounted upon said arms andnormally depending in the path of movement of the le ver and urged bygravity into said position, the beveled end of the lever engaging saidlatch, when the overflow pipe is in its closed position, to therebyexert a downward pressure on the overflow pipe through said arms andlatch, the beveled face of the lever acting to urge the latch out ofsaid engagement when the flotative force on the float exceeds apredetermined point to thereby permit the 65, float to rise andvertically raisethe overflow pipe through said rod, said latch thenswinging into position above the inner end of the lever whereby when thefloat falls, the lever, by its engagement with the latch and arms, willfurther lift the overflow pipe, said lever when the float hasfallen to apredetermined extent slipping past the latch to permit the overflow pipeto fall. v

7. In a flush tank having a discharge opening, a vertically movableoverflow pipe constituting a valve and normally closing the dischargeopening, float operated means for initially raising the overflow pipewhen the water in the tank'has reached a predetermined level, and stillfurther raising the overflow pipe when the water in the tank decreases,said float' operated means disengaging from its operative connectionwith the overflow pipe to permit the overflow pipe to drop to its closedposition when the water has been discharged from the tank.

8. A flush tank having a discharge opening provided with a seat, avertically movable valve engageable with the seat, a normallv submergedfloat operatively connected to lift the valve when the float moves upward due to its buoyancy, means operativelyv connected to the valve andin one position preventing the upward movement of the float due to itsbuoyancy, said means being shiftable out of operative engagement withthe float upon an increase of upward pressure on the float beyond apredeterminedv degree to thereby permit the floatto rise under its ownbuovancy, said means then shifting automatically into another positionof operative engagement with the float and acting to raise the valvestill further as the float descends, said means escaping from itsoperative engagement with the float when the float has fallen to apredetermined position to thereby permit the valve to drop to its closedposition. y

9. A flush tank having a discharge opening, a valve controlling flowthrough said opening, and float operated means urging the valve to itsseat until the liquid in the tank has reached a predetermined height andthen acting to lift the valve fromits seat until the liquid in the tankhas lowered a prede- 1 15 termined degree. 7 V

'10. A flush tank having a discharge opening, a valve controlling theflow of liquid through said opening, a normally submerged floatoperatively connected to the valve to lift it as the float moves upwardto the surface of the liquid and downward with. the liquid as the latteris discharged, and means hindering the upward movement of the float dueto its own buoyancy, said means being forced out of operative engagementwith the float when the upward force exerted on the float by itsbuoyancy has increased beyond a predetermined amount. l.- A r t. ri iehers e ar .3

ing a valve controlling the flow'of liquid through said opening, anormally submerged float operatively connected to the valve to lift itas the float moves upward to the surface of the liquid and downward withthe liquid as the latter is discharged, and means hindering the upwardmovement of the float due to its own buoyancy, said means beingshiftable out of operative engagement with 10 the float to therebypermit the float to rise under its own buoyancy and automaticallyshifting back into its initial position when the float has fallen to apredetermined degree and the valve is closed.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my Copies of this patent may beobtained for five cents each; by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G.

